Interview with: Marvin P. Loeb, Sc.D., Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Cardiodyne Inc. - featuring: their medical lasers and patented disposable and reusable fiber optic devices for use in minimally invasive procedures as alternatives to surgery. |
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Trimedyne, Inc. (TMED.OB-OTC: BB) |
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This is a printer friendly page! Trimedynes
ability to obtain large, powerful marketing partners, its new side firing Laser Fiber for
the outpatient treatment of enlarged prostates and the success rates of its side
firing Laser Needle in the outpatient treatment of herniated or ruptured spinal
discs will give it an edge in dominating the
$720 million market for treating enlarged prostates and the $600 million market for
treating damaged discs in the spine BIO: Trimedynes new side firing laser fiber was
recently cleared for sale by the FDA for the treatment of enlarged prostates, a condition
which affects about 50% of men over age 55. This new device will be marketed in the CEOCFO: With us today is
Dr. Marvin P. Loeb, the founder and Chairman of Trimedyne, Inc., a manufacturer of medical
lasers and fiber-optic disposable devices. Trimedynes symbol is TMED.OB. CEOCFO: Dr. Loeb, why
should people invest in Trimedyne? Trimedyne also manufactures lasers and unique, patented, disposable laser fibers and needles used in minimally invasive procedures to treat herniated or ruptured discs in the spine in 20-30 minute outpatient procedures, to treat damage in joints, such as the knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle and wrist, to fragment stones in the kidney and bladder, and to treat a variety of other conditions. Our lasers and fibers are alternatives to surgery, significantly reducing the cost and complications of surgery. All of our lasers and fibers have been cleared for sale by the FDA and are covered by Medicare and most insurance plans. CEOCFO: Tell us about
your new marketing alliance and the market for your new prostate device. Our new laser fiber will be marketed in the Boston Scientific is conducting a quality review of
our manufacturing process and quality standards. We expect this will be completed and
shipments of the new laser fiber to Boston Scientific and Lumenis will begin late in the
first calendar quarter of 2007. Boston Scientific will conduct training courses for
urologists on our new fiber at a number of institutions in the Our new, side firing laser fiber is similar to the
side firing needles we manufacture for treating herniated or ruptured discs in the spine,
so production is not a problem, and our laser procedure is similar to the electro-surgical
procedure to treat an enlarged prostate, so training of physicians will not cause a
significant delay in the adoption of our device by urologists. CEOCFO: Who will
ultimately be the leader in this market? In the electro-surgical procedure, a wire loop,
inserted through an endoscope in the penis, is heated red-hot, like a wire in a toaster,
and is moved back and forth to carve out the center of the prostate permitting urine to
flow. The electro-surgical procedure entails a one or two day hospital stay, up to a week or more of recuperation, significant bleeding (up to 10% of the patients require a blood transfusion), up to 15% of the men who were potent before the procedure become impotent, and up to 10% become permanently incontinent. Our laser procedure is outpatient, is virtually bloodless and largely avoids all of these adverse effects, so competing with a 60 year old, traumatic surgical procedure will be easy. Most importantly, we and Lumenis have sold about
3,000 high power Holmium lasers to hospitals, surgery centers and laser rental companies
around the world for use in lithotripsy and orthopedics, about 75% of which are in the We anticipate that with Boston Scientific and Lumenis marketing our new fiber, we will become the worldwide leader in this market within a few years. CEOCFO: Will this
marketing alliance generate significant sales for Trimedyne in 2007? According to laboratory testing on animal soft tissue and comparative data, our new side firing laser fiber is faster at vaporizing tissue than any other laser fiber on the market. This means the physician is out of the operating room faster and can get back to his office, with a waiting room full of patients. In addition, our fiber is more durable, which means
the hospital doesnt have to stop in the middle of the case, take another $600 laser
fiber out of inventory and place it back into the patient, which wastes time and costs
money. Hospitals are paid the same, regardless of how much operating time is used
and whether they have to use one or two $600 fibers to finish the case. Both hospitals and
doctors will love this new procedures. CEOCFO: Tell us about
your laser treatment for herniated or ruptured discs, and how it compares to surgery. A herniated disc has a bulge that presses against the nerves in the spine, causing constant pain. If the bulge ruptures, the extruded material presses against the nerves in the spine, also causing constant pain. Our side firing laser needle is only 1/12th of an inch in diameter and is inserted into the disc under x-ray guidance. Our laser, which is called a Holmium laser, after the rare element that is used to generate that wavelength, is emitted to vaporize a portion of a herniated disc, relieving the pressure on the nerves. If the bulge has ruptured, the needle is inserted through an endoscope, and the extruded material is vaporized under direct vision, again relieving the pressure on the nerves. The patient walks out about an hour after the 20 to
30 minute outpatient procedure with a band-aid on the puncture, no stitches, and
can return to light activities in a few days. This is remarkable compared to the existing
surgery. CEOCFO: How large is the
spinal market? While urologists are trained to perform endoscopic procedures, spinal surgeons are not accustomed to performing procedures through an endoscope, watching a video monitor. They have to spend 3 to 4 days in a workshop to learn the procedure, doing it on cadavers. Convincing busy spinal surgeons to take 3 or 4 days
away from their practice to attend a training course is difficult, because the demands on
their time are significant. Spinal surgeons have been spoiled by companies like Stryker,
Medtronic and J&J, who take them to training courses in There is a lot of room to grow in the spinal market,
because currently our laser procedure is only a small percentage of the total number of
cases. However, it is expensive to train the surgeons, and it is a slow process. Our job
is to expand our spinal business by training more surgeons, and we need to educate the
public on the higher success rate of our laser procedure, so they will ask the surgeon for
it. We plan to use some of the profits form our increased volume of business from Boston Scientific and Lumenis to conduct more training courses and expand our spinal disc market. CEOCFO: What sales and
profits are you forecasting? Investors can access our financials, which show that we made a profit of about $1 million in 03 and another million in 04. We made a profit of only about $200 thousand in 05, because we invested heavily in the development of this new product and taking it through the FDA. Over a period of 2-3 years, we believe a 50%
penetration of the $120 million However, as hospitals buy our Holmium lasers to treat enlarged prostates, we can recommend their use in discs and for their other uses, because it is a very versatile laser. CEOCFO: What other new
products are in development? Female urinary incontinence condition effects about 14 million women in the U.S., most of whom wear sanitary pads and dont receive treatment, as surgery or injections of plastic or calcium granules, which can migrate, are presently the only options available to women to treat this condition. We have to conduct animal studies to prove that it works before we will be able to attract Boston Scientific or another large company to conduct human studies, which will be expensive, and market the fiber when it is approved for sale by the FDA. This is a 2 to 3 year process. We have a pipeline of two additional products following behind this one, but each has a timeline based on what is required to obtain FDA approval. CEOCFO: Tell us about
your management team & directors. Brian T. Kenney, our VP of sales and marketing, has been employed by Trimedyne for 6 years. He appoints sales reps and distributors and teaches our laser procedures to them and our customers. Jeffrey S. Rudner, our chief accounting officer, has been with us 5 years, very ably manages our accounting, accounts payable and receivables departments, and handles all of our SEC filings. We have a very strong board of directors. In addition to myself and Glenn Yeik, our president, our directors include Donald Baker, who is the retired managing partner of Baker and McKenzie, the largest law firm in the world, Robert Crutchfield, vice president and general manager of pharmacy services of U.S. Oncology, Inc. and was formally senior vice president of Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH), a $60 Billion company, and Richard Horowitz, a partner in Heller Horowitz & Feit, our SEC counsel. CEOCFO: What is your
financial condition? At CEOCFO: Finally, why
should people consider investing in Trimedyne? Investors can go to our website,
www.trimedyne.com, for copies of our press releases, product information, financial
statements and SEC filings, which will enable them to get up the learning curve on
Trimedyne.
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Weve
shown that we can operate profitably. Very few companies in the medical field with sales
of $6.5 million are profitable. With our new Laser Fiber, we believe Boston Scientific and
Lumenis will replace many of the 1.2 million surgical procedures performed each year in
the |
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